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Subject: table:is-sub-table attribute
Dear TC members, we are discussing the "table:is-sub-table" attribute for a while now, but have not come to a conclusion yet. What we have agreed is that the table:is-sub-table attribute should not be used to simulate merged table cells, and that the ODF specification should make that clear. What is still under discussion is the question whether it may be reasonable to deprecate the attribute at all. We tried to get some input to the discussion by checking use cases for the is-sub-table attribute. One use case that was mentioned are sudoku tables, but there seem to be different opinions whether this is a good example or not. Another use case that was mentioned were spreadsheet tables, where sub tables in combination with the is-sub-table attribute could be used to store the result of array functions. However, sub-tables are not used that way as of today by the implementations that are known to us. So, taking it all together, it seems to me that we cannot clearly say whether it is reasonable to deprecate the attribute or not based on use cases. We discussed the situation in the last work call, and what we observed where was that a file format specification like ODF defines features, but cannot guarantee that these are used only in reasonable ways. This applies to the is-sub-table attribute, but to any other features as well. The reason we are discussing the attribute is that the ODF specification itself suggested to use it instead of col- and row-span attribute, which turned out to be inappropriate. We already agreed to change that. So based on that, the following recommendation has bee worked out (see http://lists.oasis-open.org/archives/office/200707/msg00069.html): a) don't imply in the main specification that subtables should be used to structure tables b) note in A11Y guidelines that subtables should not be used and that col/row-span be used instead... The a11y guidelines contain already recommendations regarding is-sub-table. In the main specification, the examples in section 8.2.6 would have to be removed, since they are the only hint that is-sub-table may be used as a replacement for row- and col-span. Best regards Michael -- Michael Brauer, Technical Architect Software Engineering StarOffice/OpenOffice.org Sun Microsystems GmbH Nagelsweg 55 D-20097 Hamburg, Germany michael.brauer@sun.com http://sun.com/staroffice +49 40 23646 500 http://blogs.sun.com/GullFOSS Sitz der Gesellschaft: Sun Microsystems GmbH, Sonnenallee 1, D-85551 Kirchheim-Heimstetten Amtsgericht Muenchen: HRB 161028 Geschaeftsfuehrer: Wolfgang Engels, Dr. Roland Boemer Vorsitzender des Aufsichtsrates: Martin Haering
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